Silver Lining
by MoonGirl
Summary: A separation between Hayley and the shapeshifter who imprinted on her turns out to have the answers they were looking for. Crap summary, but the story is better!
1. Chapter 1

Cute little story I wrote ages ago that I just love. I want someone to love me like Alex loves Hayley!

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People don't realise that what me and Alex have is stronger than normal love. My parents think it's just a phase, soon i'll break up with him and I'll go find someone else who is in school and heading towards university, with lots of money. My friends think it's so romantic the way he looks at me and worships the ground I walk on. But they're also worried about his bad boy image, and are constantly warning me about what will happen when he cheats on me, or dumps me for another girl. But i know that won't happen. Because it physically hurts both of us the long hours when I'm at school and we're apart. We are like two parts of a whole, and I'm the only one who knows his secret, the secret he and his older brother share.

It was an accident, the way I found out. But I was with him and his older brother at the house when it first happened, since he was my best friend. He still is actually, just way more. And I looked after them the first week when they were constantly freaking out. An easy call to my parents telling them we were going on a camping trip sorted it all. Then the end of the summer holidays came and we had to make the decision to keep them out of school. It was just too dangerous. And they figured out what they were created for. Im only fifteen, like him, and his brother is nineteen. They live alone since their parents are both dead and their grandfather died a couple of years ago, leaving them a hand written book in a language they only know a few words of. He told them it contained all of the answers to their questions, and to go back to their home once they read it. I bring him school work to do, and make sure they get their benefit money. I keep their kitchen full and do all their shopping for them. Its a year since it all happened, and we have a routine all sorted. They even have part time jobs now.

The bombshell drops at a seemingly normal Sunday dinner. They had mentioned it a few months ago when the invitations came out but had originally said they were too busy. But now, mom said those dreaded words that immediately made my body freeze up.

"We've got a lot of holiday time due so we've decided to go to my cousin's wedding," Mom announced. "We'll be flying there on Thursday and coming back Monday morning. If the weather's still good we might even stay a few more days."

"We're leaving?" I asked dumbly.

"It's just for a couple of days Hayley, you'll be fine away from Alex for that long," Mom scowled at me. "It'll do you some good to get some separation time."

"We already do!" I cried out. "I go out with the girls on Wednesday and Saturdays! I'm not with him all the time!"

"Well there isn't an argument in this young lady, we're going and that's it," Mom had her determined face on. "I'll take you dress shopping on Tuesday, and Conner, you'll go with your father to get a suit. Don't even think about arguing."

After the dishes were hastily done I ran up to my room and texted him to come meet me. By the time I had climbed out on my balcony, shimmied down to the ground and ran the few yards into the forest where we usually met, he was already there.

"Whats wrong?" his face was instantly worried as he felt how upset I was. He opened his arms and I flew into them, sobbing into his chest.

"Mom's making us go to La Push for the weekend!" I cried, not loud enough for my parents in the house to hear. "Four days, six nights, maybe more, without you! No exceptions or negotiations!"

"Shh Haze, it'll be fine," he tried to soothe me but his arms were a little too tight and I could hear the panic in his voice. "Where's La Push?"

"Washington!" I cried. "That's ages! Two hours by plane!"

"Don't worry Haze, whatever happens we'll get through it!" he assured me.

Tuesday I took him shopping with me to get a dress. In a way it was a bad idea, because he would automatically say I looked great in everything, but we took Dante with us, and he voiced his honest opinion to everything. Eventually we found a green dress that came to my knees the color of my eyes with some strappy sandals that had small heels, then I used moms credit card to buy us lunch. The next two nights I stayed at their place curled up on Alex's bed, protected in his arms, but then I had to leave.

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Please review! I appreciate all critisism!


	2. Chapter 2

Its pretty short but there's more coming soon! Please review!

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The plane trip was awful, and as I got off I threw up, partly from the turbulence and partly from the ache in my chest, from missing Alex. Mom took my phone off me, and I tried to stay calm from the gaping hole that grew bigger in my chest every second away from him.

We collected our bags and went out to find a tall guy who introduced himself as Jared waiting for us. He was Sam's friend and there was something eerily familiar about him. I didn't have the energy to think about it as I was put in the front seat because of my sickness and he drove us to La Push. We were supposedly staying at different places, mom, dad and Conner with moms sister, and me at Jared's girlfriend Kim's. Because of all the distant relations coming, every bed was needed.

Jared dropped them off first and then got out with me. The way he hugged his girlfriend, and gently kissed her reminded me of the way Alex treated me. The hole in my chest throbbed and caused me to dry retch into the bushes.

"Maybe we should get you inside," Kim guided me inside and up to her bedroom where I would be staying. I flopped onto the bed and curled into a ball, hiding my face.

Surprised I woke up hours later with my chest aching and Kim calling me down to dinner. It was nothing glamorous, just pizza, but her parents were nice.

Next morning Jared came to pick us up, and took us to the beach. A lot of other men his age were there, with a couple of women, but as I looked closer I saw that the men were actually just large boys, like Alex and Dante.

Seth and Embry tried to distract me as we swam in the sea, but it didn't work. If anything it made it worse. I had to call him, hear his voice. I noticed Kim had her phone on the towel beside her and asked her if I could use it. She agreed and I dialed the number I knew off by heart. But it wasn't his voice that answered.

"Yeah?" Dante sounded bored.

"Go away, I need to talk to Alex," I complained. "Where is he?"

"Out," Dante said, but I heard the scuffle.

"Give it here," Alex said from a distance. "Let me talk to her!"

"Get off!" Dante shouted, and then there was a ripping sound, a crunching, and then the phone went dead.

I chucked the phone back on the ground and wrapped my arms around my legs. From the sounds of it they had just smashed the phone and half of the living room. The self control thing wasn't working out too well for them with out me there.


	3. Chapter 3

After swimming all morning, I tried to distract myself, so as I sat in Kim's living room, her and the other women sorting out some aspect of the wedding, I tried to translate some of the book Alex and Dante had been given.

"The History of the Sons of Taha Aki?" I snapped the book shut and looked up as Rachel came over to me. "Where did you get that book from? Its Quileute."

"Quileute?" I frowned. "Thats the tribe around here right?"

"Yeah, the one pretty much all of us around here belong to," she said, standing in front of me and staring at it. "Is the whole thing in Quileute?"

"Yeah, but I know a few words," I said. "Not very many though. About two every page."

"My family and a lot of the boys you've met around here are fluent in it," Rachel said. "Where did you get that book from?"

"My boyfriends grandfather gave it to him," I said. "I offered to attempt to translate it for him but thats not really happening."

As always with every mention of him, I have to wrap my arms around myself, to hide the shaking and pain I was in.

"Can I see it?" she asked.

Hesitantly I gave it to her. Her eyes were wide as she opened it to a random page.

I was a little frightened at the way all of the people in the room looked at me. All thoughts of Emily's wedding were put aside as they fixed their eyes on the book in my arms. I clutched it to my chest, desperately wanting Alex to be beside me, his glare making them all turn away.

"That book belongs to our tribe," Sam said, his hugeness scaring me. "We will do everything we possibly can to get it back. It contains important secrets that no outsiders should know.

"You didn't do a very good job of protecting those secrets," I protested. "And this book belongs to Alex and Dante. It was given to them."

"Call them then," Sam said. "Get them to come here. That book rightfully belongs to us. We need to talk to them, to make them understand."

Someone handed me a phone.

"They broke their phone," I said stubbornly. "I can't call them."

"We need to talk to them," Sam demanded.

"Stop it, you're scaring her," Emily said, and came over to me with the phone. "Sweetheart, that book is really important to us, and it would really help if we could talk to those boys. Honestly, if someone who wasn't Quileute actually translated all of this, people could die. Please can you call your boyfriend?"

"He might not answer, they're usually busy," I whispered but punched in the number of Alex's backup mobile. It rang for an eternity, but finally it picked up and I heard his voice.

"Hayley," he breathed out my name in a relieved sigh.

"I need you to come here," I said, trying to keep the fear out of my voice because he would over react. "You and Dante."

"What's wrong?" of course I couldn't fool him.

"There's some people who say your grandpa's book belongs to them, and that what's in the book is dangerous," I say. "They want you to come here. And I need you . It hurts."

"I know sweetie," he sighed. "I'm coming. Dante too."

"I love you," I say.

"Love you too. More than you can ever imagine Hay. I'll be there before you know it."


	4. Chapter 4

They gave me a mobile phone so I could call him again when he was closer, and let me go with the book. They weren't expecting my boys to be so fast, but I knew they would be here quickly, especially if I was the one who asked.

I waited alone, in the forest to the south of La Push. They would still take awhile to get here, so i fretted, failing at distracting myself even for a second.

I heard a strange howl, and sat bolt upright against the tree. It didn't belong to Alex or Dante, yet it was more than just a normal wolf. I stood, anxiously waiting, listening for any sounds.

The five wolves all reached me at exactly the same time. I was on the wrong side, the three strange ones between me and the two familiar ones. Alex lunged forward, savagely snapping them out of the way so he could be with me. They parted after a couple of teeth marks were left on their hides, and I ran forward to hide at Alex shoulder. Dante stood to my other side, crouching with a snarl, deep rumbling growls coming from his chest.

But he suddenly took a step back, silenced, cocking his head to the side at the same time as Alex whined, flattening his ears back and lowering his front legs a little. He had his neck turned around me so I was out of sight.

But then he stepped slightly away from me as Dante turned back to a human, and I saw that impossibly, the other three were humans. More specifically, Jared, Noah and Zane. I was too distracted by this to watch Alex change back, but he protectively wrapped his arms around me, kissing my upturned forehead as way of greeting in this circumstances. All five boys were only dressed in cutoff shorts.

"We're not going to hurt you or anything," Jared said, holding his hands up in a peace sign. "We just want to talk."

"They're the ones who wanted your book, some of them anyway," I murmured to my boys.

"My names Jared, and this is Noah and Zane," he said. "And you two are?"

"Im Dante, and this is my brother Alex," Dante said warily, and I felt the rumbling growl from Alex' chest. I squeezed his arms to warn him.

"Dante, Alex, can we move this conversation elsewhere?" Jared asked.

Dante nodded, and Alex scooped me up in his arms, and as he ran I had my forehead pressed against his cheek as we whispered to each other. It was amazing, the feeling of relief now that we were together, even after a separation of just twenty-four hours. It was still the longest we had been away from each other since it happened. Finally they stopped and As he set me down, and held me close to his side, I recognised the yard at Sam and Emily's.

"I certainly wasn't expecting this," Sam seemed surprised as he came down the steps. Emily stood just at the door, just out of the way as Paul and Embry came out to stand by the other four wolves.

"My name is Sam, Im the alpha of the pack around here," he said, and I reached out my hand to hold Dante's arm as he let out a small growl. "You are the third pack of this generation. Who are your Quileute ancestors? Who did you inherit this from?"

"Our grandfather was Quileute," Dante said. This was something they'd never mentioned before, so I was curious. "His name was Peter Black. His great-grandfather left the Quileute people with his son after his wife died. His name was Ephraim."

"Are you sure?" Sam frowned and all of them looked confused.

"I think I know my own ancestry," Dante growled, and I squeezed his arm harder. Alex tugged me away from him a little, anxious about the shakes going through his brothers body so close to me.

"Sorry," Sam automatically backed down a little, his eyes taking in the situation in front of him. "Paul, go get Billy. Im sure he'd be interested in this, and might be able to explain further. Hayley, where did you leave the book?"

"At Kim's," I held on tightly to Alex as he growled at Sam. I was surprised my boys had lasted this long, and didn't know when they'd snap.

"Jared?" Sam said and the other boy disappeared, following Paul. "Come inside and talk to us. Tell us when you first phased, and what happened."

His eyes travelled to me as he said that last bit.

"It's okay," I whispered to Alex. "Come on, it's okay, they just want to talk. Dante, stop it!"

He was growling as Alex followed me a step forward. He shook his head and whined, then took a couple of steps back before he phased. He whined again, pacing around the yard, shaking his head and obviously trying to figure this all out.

I gave Alex a look and he shook his head, his grip tightening on me. He didn't want to let go of me, in these strange surroundings.

"Hayley are you thirsty?" Emily asked, coming down to stand by Sam. "Ignore all the boys, they'll settle down soon. They always do."

At the same time, Alex and I realised what the scars on her face were from, as Sam gently ran his hand over her cheek. Alex reacted violently, letting go of me and stepping back, his outline blurring so much I couldn't tell which form he was in. He took deep gasping breaths, struggling to maintain one shape.

"Alex, it's okay," I said, not daring to go nearer to him. It would make him worse, and he hadn't talked to me for a whole day the last time I had tried to calm him in this state. "Calm down, its fine. Alex, I don't care. Its fine!"

Dante came to his side and nudged his brother, giving a low whine.

"Alex, it's history," I said softly. "I love you, please, just calm down."

He gave me an agonised look and straightened up, taking in deep breaths. Then he encircled me in a hug, sighing and letting out the tension.

"Im so sorry," he kissed my cheek.

"Its fine," I reminded him. "Its history."

Dante shoved me with his head and I took in the look he gave me.

"Oh yeah, since when do you ever care about what everyone sees?" I demanded. "I should let you suffer. Payback for the phone this morning."

He growled and grabbed my arm in his teeth.

"Oh yeah?" I stared back at him, unafraid. "Do it. It won't change my mind."

Alex laughed and punched his brothers jaw, making him let go.

"Do you have clothes for Dante?" he asked. "Just some sweats or shorts would be fine."

"A skirt would be better," I dodged his teeth as he went to get me again.

Emily smiled at us and went inside the house. She came back out with some cutoff sweats which Dante went up and grabbed from her. He growled at me as he trotted back past me and phased, quickly pulling them on.

"Come inside now, I bet you two boys are hungry after running all this way," Emily said. "And Hayley i think you need to call your mother so Kim doesn't have to make up an excuse for you."

I glanced up anxiously at Alex and saw the mirrored worry on his face as we followed them inside. Dante sat on a stool furtherest away from Sam and Alex pulled me up onto his knee.


	5. Chapter 5

I glanced up anxiously at Alex and saw the mirrored worry on his face as we followed them inside. Dante sat on a stool furtherest away from Sam and Alex pulled me up onto his knee.

"The way I feel about Hayley, is that normal?" he asked as Emily placed the phone in front of me.

"Well, there's seventeen shapeshifters around here, and five of them a in the same situation, including Sam and I," Emily explained as she started to make a dinner, an abnormally large amount of mac and cheese. "It's called imprinting, its like finding the true other half of yourself. It's an unbreakable bond, and it can even change tribal laws."

"And Jared and Kim?" I asked. "Its the same for them?"

"Yes," Emily smiled. "As well as Rachel and Paul, Jacob and Nessie and Quil and Claire."

Jared came in then, dumping the book carefully on the bench and sitting at the table with Noah and Zane.

"You better call your mom now," Emily told me.

I pulled a face and dialed the number. My aunt picked up and I asked for mom, explaining where I was and then dropping the bombshell that I knew would really upset her.

"Alex and Dante's family come from here, so I'm talking to them about that."

I hung up quickly before she could answer that and pulled a face. Alex squeezed me tightly.

"Here's Billy and Paul now," Sam nodded to the door as Paul pushed an older man in a wheelchair into the room.

The man was staring at my boys, and nodded his head to them.

"This is Dante and Alex," Paul introduced them, and Billy shook their hands, Alex awkwardly around me, reluctant to let me go.

"Who is this Ephraim Black you speak of?" he asked. "My grandfather was also called by that name."

"Our what? Great great great grandfather?" Dante looked to Alex for confirmation.

"That would be... Two generations before the Ephraim Black I know of," Billy frowned.

"He's the one that wrote the letter in the book," I whispered to Alex. "At the very end right?"

"Yeah," he let me go slightly so i could pull the book over and flipped it to the right page. I got down and put it on Billy's knees then went back to Alex.

"He wrote that, but I don't know how to read it," I explained. "I don't know Quileute."

Billy looked at it with surprise and read it through.

"Well, thats certainly unexpected," he frowned. "I'll translate it to english for you. It says...

To my son George, son of my spirit wife Alia. That means she was his imprint.

Im sorry to leave you like this, barely a man, but it is impossible cor me to live without your mother. Maybe you will understand one day, I hope you get to feel the love between a man and his spirit wife, but you never have to feel what I do now, the loneliness that comes from her being taken too soon.

You are Quileute, and I hope one day you or your sons will go back to your true home, but for me it is too painful without my Alia.

It was an accident, her death, but purely my fault. She was killed by a Cold One, and my quest for vengeance has led me this far away from my home, bringing you with me. Now that Cold One is dead, I have nothing to live for now, expect the hope that I will see your mother in the Afterworld.

When you return to La Push, ask for the descendants of Jacob Black, my cousin, and they will help you understand what is happening to you.

It is with deepest regrets that I leave you now, but my son I am sorry.

Ephraim Black."

I shuddered and buried my face in Alex' shoulder.

"So his imprint died, and he left to avenge her, then had nothing to live for anymore," Sam said softly, wrapping his arms around Emily's waist where she stood at the stove.

Jared and Paul looked like they wanted to be elsewhere, and even the unimprinted looked upset.

"So he was like us?" Alex frowned. "But what's a Cold One?"

I widened my eyes at him, and he understood.

"No!" he realized. "That thing...?"

I shuddered and he covered me further in his arms.

"Outsiders would call them vampires," Sam said. "You've run into them before?"

"One," Dante said, carefully watching Alex. "Right back when we first figured out what was happening."

"It sounds like a long story, so eat while you talk," Emily said, placing plates of food in front of everyone.

Everyone chorused rounds of thank yous, and Alex lifted me onto one knee so we could both eat.

"Start from when you first phased," Sam said. "I'm curious."

"It was exactly a year ago yesterday," I realised, and told the story since both boys were starving.


	6. Chapter 6

"I was at their place because even back then Alex and I were best friends. Their Grandfather had died the year before, and they were only just allowed to live there alone, since Dante had just turned eighteen. And I went over there all the time to cook for them because they were both crap. I remember talking to Alex as we did the dishes, trying to convince him that he had been growing over the last few weeks. Dante came in, and he just started a fight about not getting any of what we had made."

"Brownie," Alex mumbled through a mouthful. "I ate it all. It was good."

"Of course you remembered that part," I elbowed his stomach. "Anyway, Dante like, leapt at Alex, and they fell backwards and completely destroyed the door. They fell down the steps, but they hit the grass as wolves, still fighting. it was awful. They didn't even notice until I started screaming, and they both stopped. I was so scared. I locked myself in Alex room, because he changed back into a human and followed me back into the house, but then he changed back to a wolf. They swapped back and forth all day, and I stayed in his room crying. I finally came out when I hadn't heard anything for awhile. He was asleep as a human on the floor, and Dante was outside still, changing back and forth. I called my mom, and told her I was staying there that night. I got the boys dressed and fed them, but they couldn't stay in the house for long. I wanted to leave the next morning, but Alex wouldn't let me. And I just couldn't leave him, not with the way he looked at me. He was so scared that I was going to leave and not come back. I think I was still in shock, but I told my mom we were going on a camping trip and managed to stay there for a week. Until school started I think the longest Alex had been human was seven hours, and for Dante it was four. We managed to convince the social workers that Alex wanted to be home schooled, and then the first weekend after school started, I was walking over to their place."

Here I stopped, and pleaded with Dante with my eyes.

"She ran into this...Cold One? when she was almost at our house," Dante said. "We heard her, and we ran to her. I phased cause that smell, it was wrong. But Alex went to her first, pulled her out of the way. But he was freaking out. We knew that thing was wrong. He got her away but left a scar, across her stomach as he phased. We ripped that thing apart, and we remembered this story our grandfather told us, to kill the enemy you must burn it. We got Hayley back to the house, and called an ambulance, telling them it was a bear and I cleared out to burn that thing. She spent the night in hospital, but was fine to come home after that. We were forbidden to see her, since her mom thought it was our fault, but Alex climbed up to her window all the time. She still wasn't scared of us, but her mom doesn't like us being near her because of that."

I could feel Emily's curious gaze on me, wondering about the girl who was like her.

I stepped down from Alex knee and lifted my shirt, showing her the scar from his right hand that went from just below my left breast, to my right hip. It was deep and ugly, and Alex pulled me back onto his knee, tracing the marks with his fingers before pulling down my shirt.

I could feel his tension so lifted his hand to kiss it, holding it around me then on my heart.


End file.
